She seemed surprised to see us. I don’t blame her for that. The guest book, checked later, revealed there had been about five visitors the whole month.

The place seemed empty from the outside. Our only greeter along the stretch of Pulaski where the chains don’t have interest in setting up shop was a shaggy old blonde man walking by with a guitar. He asked if Jesus was our lord and savior. I lied and said he was. A small sign told an equal lie, adding to our real destination that we were about to enter the ward offices of the alderman who just got in trouble for covering up his brother being pervy at a female consultant.

In reality, Ald. Quinn works two-and-a-half miles away, nestled safe in the bosom of a shared office space with House Speaker Mike Madigan. The fire escape route map on the inside of the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture doesn’t even list space for a ward office.

The woman in the gift shop seemed surprised to see us, but she processed the admission fee accordingly. She smiled and told us there was more on the third floor. And then she let us into 17,000 years. » Read the rest of this entry «